


Masks and Bolts

by Melkur_Mistress



Series: The Missy and Ainley Adventures [6]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Mostly humor, Nardole gets a fright, Paying a visit to the vault, Teeny bit of angst, The Master wears masks, messing with the Doctor, surprising yourself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 06:32:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19351411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melkur_Mistress/pseuds/Melkur_Mistress
Summary: Missy and Ainley pay a little visit to Vault Missy and bring her some presents. Then they go to the Doctor's office to toy with him and scare the life out of Nardole.--------------------------------“Doctor! She cloned me! She escaped and she cloned me! What’s she gonna do with a clone of me! Stop her! Whatever her evil plan is, my clone isn’t part of it!”The Masters both laughed even harder at his terrified reaction and then grew serious as they prepared for one of their favourite things of all time - a big reveal.





	Masks and Bolts

Missy lay on her back, her head on the Master’s lap, perfectly comfortable as she stretched out and glanced at the screens in the Doctor Watching station in front of them.. 

“What I’m trying to explain dearest, is that it depends entirely on  _ when _ . It would be hilarious to play a game, but visiting me…...we have to pick our moment to drop by. I could be very ready to receive visitors on some days, and quite...well, emotional and unable to do very much on other days.”

“How long were you there for Missy?” he asked in interest.

“Oh, little under a century I think, maybe less...some days it felt like more.”

The Master looked down at her, stunned.

“Why?” he asked, utterly confused. “Why would you live like that for so long?”

“Hey!” she said, offended. “It wasn’t as bad as you think - I was lonely...at times...ok maybe a lot...but it was the best prison we’ve ever had,  _ plus  _ I had my own butler...although the Doctor kept telling me he wasn’t my butler - but he brought me most of the things I wanted, so it was quite confusing.”

“Perhaps then, we simply knock and ask her how she is feeling? Then decide.”

“Or, we visit, bring her things, cheer her up and go and play with the Doctor and the egg shaped  _ not butler _ .”

The Master chuckled, “very well, that sounds excellent. We must prepare - we don’t after all, want to be detected too soon and have our game spoiled.”

“Quite right my dear, there really is only one thing for it,” she said, smiling up at him.

“My thoughts exactly,” he said, chuckling. “Let’s form a plan.”

Sometime later, they emerged from the Master’s wardrobe room, Missy smiling approvingly at the realistic looking Missy mask that the Master now wore, his usual black velvet attire hidden by a purple cape.

 

_ They headed straight to the vault. _

 

Outside the vault door they stood as Missy tapped with her umbrella.

“Knock knock?”

Missy was met with silence, but still smiled at the seeming lack of response.

“Darling, are you feeling ok? Want to play with me?” she asked in a sing song voice that made the Master raise his eyebrow in amusement.

“Come in honey,” the muffled voice of the younger Missy came from inside. “The egg changed the code yesterday and I haven’t got around to cracking it yet.”

“Ok, let’s see how quickly our brilliant mind can do this - and...I have a lovely surprise for you too - and gifts.”

“Solve that puzzle fast then darling,” she said, from behind the door.

It took around 30 minutes, and after finally admitting to the Master that she needed a hand, they fell in sync, working on the lock mechanisms and layers of security together, until finally, the door release levers raised and the doors opened.

Missy walked straight in with a big smile, “hands over your eyes or your surprise will be all spoiled.”

The younger Missy smiled as she covered her eyes, “I hope it’s lots of sweets!”

“You really did set me off on a sugar addiction I’m never going to recover from - I  _ do  _ have treats for you, but I have a surprise guest too! Ready...open your eyes!” Missy threw her arms out to the side, dramatically gesturing to the Master who rolled his eyes in amusement, the mask remaining effectively in place.

The younger Missy stepped closer and regarded him carefully.

“You brought me…..me.”

Missy giggled as the Master pulled off his mask and threw off his cape. Immediately, all three broke into laughter, delighted by the game. 

“Missy, how very delightful to meet you,” he said, taking her hand and raising it to his mouth as he placed a kiss.

“Oh,  _ you _ \- well now this  _ is _ a surprise - what are you doing with me?”

Missy laughed and took her other hand, repeating the Master’s action, kissing her other hand with a smile.

“We wanted to drop in and see you,” Missy said.

“And torment the Doctor,” the Master added.

“Well _yes,_ that too,” Missy said.

The younger Missy let go of their hands, and grabbed some cushions from her bed, scattering them on the floor before flopping down to the  ground and laying down on them. 

“I’m bored of sitting, please take the chairs. Now to what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Well, we are having a lovely time, taking some little trips together, and we just thought we would drop in, in case Mr Grumpy has been neglecting you again, and then go and toy with him. First though - treats!” Missy said with a flash of excitement.

The Master opened the bag, and she broke into a grin as he rifled through, pulling out bags of sweets, amusing but harmless devices and lots of makeup and hair accessories that he had no idea how to use.

“Perfect, you know exactly what I need,” she said, smiling up at her past and future selves.

“What I do not understand Missy, is what could possibly compel you to stay in here?” the Master asked.

She swivelled around on the floor until her gaze was focused solely on her future self.

“Maybe best not explain, I think only _we_ understand this, he’s got lives yet before he gets to us.”

“I am inclined to agree,” Missy said. “Now, before we got to toy with the Doctor, any requests?”

“Just a question, one question that I have failed to understand,” she said, raising her arm leisurely from her position on the cushions and pointing to a calendar on the wall. “What the hell did he give me that for?”

The Master stood, crossing the room and removing the calendar with a puzzled expression.

“It appears to feature…” he paused, leafing to the back and reading the description. “Motivational animals. Baby animals precisely. It promises to...inspire you,....apparently.”

“Why would I need to look at pictures of infant earth animals?” she asked, confused.

“No idea, but next year he ups the game with incredibly irritating and patronising motivational quotes. You’ll have made a device capable of making a flame by then, _I suggest you set it on fire_ ,” Missy said.

After tea and more utter confusion about the Doctors clear use of memorised motivational quotes in his visits, which annoyed them all, they said goodbye to Missy’s past with many kisses and hugs, before heading straight to the Doctors office.

 

* * *

 

The Master adjusted his new mask in the mirror, a simple orange dressing gown this time, for lack of enough detail in Missy’s memory as to Nardole’s clothing. 

“Perfect my dear Master, we shall play such an amusing game. Now get ready, I hear someone approaching. If it’s the egg, knock him out so he doesn’t spoil our game,” Missy laughed, from her seat behind the Doctors desk. 

Moments later, the door opened and the Doctor walked in, and froze, staring in shock at Missy.

“Doctor!” she exclaimed delighted. “How _lovely_ to see you, you promised Chinese food and you really didn't deliver on that promise, so I came upstairs to order it myself.”

“You….came upstairs to order food, Missy…..how did you get out?” he asked, his tension rising as he tried to work out if she was planning anything and what all the potential outcomes might be.

“Well, _ yes _ . You leave me in there alone for so  _ long _ sometimes - at last count...let’s see….hmmm...yes, it’s been an entire week. Now you and I with our lifespans, know that a week isn’t long, but in there - forced into living a linear existence, with all those thoughts and regrets running through my mind - well, a week seems _ far longer. _ ”

The Doctor felt a flash of his own regret at her words and sighed, crossing the room and taking a seat on the edge of the desk.

“I’m sorry, sometimes I don’t know how to do this - there’s no guide for how to lock your closest friend in a vault. But Missy, you can’t just leave to come up here - how  _ did _ you get out?”

“I didn’t get out,” she said, loving the confusion her words struck him with. “There is no guide for  _ being  _ locked in a vault  _ by _ your best friend either - and really Doctor, I need a word with you about this whole situation.”

“Ok, let’s talk then, but you have to go back, you understand that?” he asked.

Missy raised an eyebrow at him and shook her head, “oh Doctor, we both needed a guide to this didn’t we?”

He frowned, confused at her words.

Missy sighed and leaned forwards, her elbows on his desk and her chin resting on her hands.

“Now I know you’re not a cuddly bunny this regeneration and that’s ok, but you have this horrible habit of seeming further away from me the more I open up. I have a tornado of emotion and feeling and guilt and sorrow, and all that overwhelming awful stuff, I still do at times, and when I express it - you watch, you almost feel like you’re studying me. For the love of puppies Doctor, all the years in that vault, I wasn’t _faking_ it - hug me, take my hand, because the distance cuts like a knife. To be near to you for that long, yet so mentally and emotionally far away - it hurt.”

The Doctor stared at her, “Missy, what’s going on here?”

Missy sat back in his chair and watched him.

“A game, just a little game, but you needed a pep talk first, because I’m quite sad down there sometimes. Now, where’s my finance?”

“Your...Missy...what’s going on here...and you may need to look up the definition of pep talk,” the Doctor felt a headache forming fast.  
  
The Master entered quickly to his cue and took Missy in his arms as she stood up and crossed the room quickly to him. The remained, their arms around each other in a seeming loving embrace.

“My fiance,  _ Nardy _ . He proposed this morning - oh Doctor, it was beautiful - he got down on one knee, a few bolts fell off, offered me an _entire_ packet of jelly babies, and after I pocketed the bolts to use for a naughty little device, he asked for my hand in marriage. We thought you could conduct the ceremony and maybe he could move in to the vault with me. It would be so  _ romantic _ .”

Missy sighed and smiled lovingly at the masked Master and the Doctor simply stared at them both in utter shock and confusion.

“You...proposed...Missy I have asked you nicely, over and over not to hypnotise Nardole, it’s not acceptable!”

“Oh Doctor, I am not hypnotised! I love and adore Missy. We have grown so close and I’ve come to realise what a wonderful woman she is - and a far better Time Lord than you - she’s much cleverer and more inventive, and so beautiful. I would spend every day with her for all eternity if fate would allow it.”

The Doctor stepped closed and stared hard at him.

“Missy... de-hypnotise Nardole!”

The Masters both laughed as the the door opened and the real Nardole walked in, then froze and let out a squeal of shock.

“Doctor! She cloned me! She escaped and she cloned me! What’s she gonna do with a clone of me! Stop her! Whatever her evil plan is, my clone isn’t part of it!”

The Masters both laughed even harder at his terrified reaction and then grew serious as they prepared for one of their favourite things of all time - a big reveal.

Missy’s eyes lit up in excitement, as he stepped forward and slowly pulled of his mask, and threw off the dressing gown. The alarmed looks of the Doctor and Nardole only served to make the moment even more priceless for them.

Missy stepped forward to stand by his side, her voice a measured imitation of her past.

“Oh my dear Doctor, you have been naive!”

They both laughed as the Doctor’s shock finally wore off and he stood with a hand on his hip, waiting for them to stop laughing. Nardole dashed back and stood behind the Doctor, terrified. 

“She got out and there’s two of her. Do something, while there’s still a world left!”

“What are you doing here?” the Doctor said, unimpressed and guarded.

“Just a little humour my dear Doctor, Missy and I thought it would be amusing, and I must say, it certainly has been.”

Missy cast an impressive evil glare at the frightened form of Nardole attempting to hide behind the Doctor, as she stepped toward him.

“ _ Doctor _ , I’m still in the vault, she takes this is a seriously as you do, if not  _ more _ at times. It’s about so much more than a locked door. Hug her, she needs it. Kindness and empathy can’t be taught through a worksheet - they need to be experienced to be understood. Go see her and don’t leave her too long alone down there.”

The Doctor started to relax as the situation made more and more sense, and sighed as he regarded her.

“That appears like sound advice Missy. Further down your timeline I take it?”

“Just a smidge yes,” she said with a genuine smile. 

“Yet you are with…”his eyes flitted cautiously to the Master. “Him.”

“Just a little sightseeing, bit of me time, we all need that at times,” Missy said.

“Maybe you shouldn't start hugging her in there Doctor - perhaps that’s what creates this issue with killing people,” the Master said. “I do detest this...morality my future appears to be afflicted with. Kindness and empathy can't be taught? You're torturing her with motivational human quotes!”

The Doctor felt his hearts rise in hope at the Master’s words, and looked at Missy who merely smiled at him, taking the Master’s hand. 

“Hug her honey, that’s all I’m saying. We will leave you now,” Missy peered round the Doctor. “Bye Nardy!”

Nardole stepped back even further, despite the total lack of any real threat to him, and the Doctor sighed and smiled tiredly at the two Masters. 

“It’s not wise to be with him Missy,” he said.

“Oh I know it doesn’t seem that way, but I know who I am, and I won’t lose that. I will come home...eventually.”

The Doctor watched as they both walked to the door, the Master exiting first.

“Missy?” he asked.

“Yes honey?” she replied.

“Where’s home?”

Missy smiled and shook her head as she continued walking, the door closing behind her.

 


End file.
